The Red Prince: Helen Carr (1381)
Civil unrest, a deadly sickness and trouble in the north? We’re visiting the year 1381 in this episode to examine a dramatic moment in what has been called ‘the calamitous fourteenth century.’ Our guide is the historian Helen Carr, author of a newly released biography of one of the age’s great figures: John of Gaunt.
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There are many parallels to draw with our world today and the period we will be visiting. In the second half of the fourteenth century England was reeling from the effects of a pandemic that puts the one we are currently living through into harsh perspective.
The first wave of the Black Death, which arrived on these shores in 1348, killed half the population. Successive waves wreaked further havoc and destruction. The Plague, as it came to be known, changed life forever, profoundly altering the structure of society and making life, which was already an enormous struggle for the majority of people, a literal living hell.
The glamorous and mighty ruling family, the Plantagenets, only added to these burdens with their ruthless ambition to rule parts of France – resulting in the 100 Years War which put a massive financial strain on the country.
Raising money to pay for their foreign battles was achieved through a series of crippling poll taxes and opposition to them caused the most dramatic and wide-spread revolt the country had ever witnessed as tens of thousands of people marched upon London to vent their fury and frustration.
It seems appropriate to be discussing the first major peoples’ revolt at a time when our own leaders are discussing the terms of a new law that aims at limiting the right to protest. The fourteenth century may be in the distant past, but we are still grappling with many of the same problems.
Our guide on this turbulent journey is the historian and broadcaster Helen Carr, whose biography of John of Gaunt, one of the most fascinating members of the Plantagenet family has just been published. John was a son of Edward III, the uncle of Richard II, the father of Henry IV and, in his time, the wealthiest nobleman and leading subject in the kingdom.
The Red Prince, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, is a brilliantly told tale of the fortunes of this compelling figure. Gaunt was a complex man – a brilliant diplomat, passionate, cultured, ruthless and kind, loved and hated in equal measure. In this episode we meet him at a crucial moment in his life when his power is thrown into question and his personal life turned upside down.
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Click here to order Helen Carr’s book from John Sandoe’s who, we are delighted to say, are supplying books for the podcast.
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Show notes
Scene One: June London, Wat Tyler and thousands of rebels arrive in London, where they are joined by disgruntled locals and go on a rampage through they city. Their main target is John of Gaunt’s sumptuous home, the Savoy Palace, which they break into and annihilate – theft is not part of their plan, just destruction.
Scene Two: June Berwick on Tweed. Fortunately for him, John of Gaunt, was far away in Berwick on the Scottish border at this time, negotiating a truce. When he heard the terrible news from London, and the rumours that a huge peasant army was on its way north to find him, he ordered his numerous castles to be stocked up.
Scene Three: August the Scottish Borders. John of Gaunt is left hanging for weeks by his young nephew Richard II, awaiting word that he can return to his lands in the south and regain his authority. Percy, the most powerful northern Earl, takes advantage of John’s vulnerability and refuses to give him shelter.
Memento: One of John of Gaunt’s luxurious tapestries that hung in the Savoy Palace before it was destroyed by the rebels.
People/Social
Presenter: Violet Moller
Guest: Helen Carr
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Colorgraph
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About Helen Carr
Helen Carr is an historian of the Fourteenth Century and author of The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (April 2021) and What is History, Now? (September 2021).
Helen is completing a doctorate in Fourteenth Century History, but her career has largely been based in public and media history as a history documentary producer making documentaries for BBC4, CNN and Sky amongst others. Helen also runs a podcast, Hidden Histories.
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster dining with the King of Portugal - Chronique d' Angleterre (Wikicommons)
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Click here to order The Red Prince: John of Gaunt by Helen Carr from our friends at John Sandoe’s Books.
Son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV: the man with the levers of power, to whom Shakespeare gave the speech about ‘this sceptered isle’. (John Sandoe’s)
